


what if he says no

by hawksonfire



Series: oh, the good ol' days [11]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Deaf Clint Barton, Emotions, Established Relationship - Steve/Clint, M/M, Marvel Bingo 2019, Multi, Pre-relationship - Steve/Bucky/Clint, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, i love these boys so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21518035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksonfire/pseuds/hawksonfire
Summary: Marvel Bingo Square N3 - Free Square.here it is, folks!ohmygod,writing these words was like pulling TEETH today ugh
Relationships: Clint Barton/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: oh, the good ol' days [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533320
Comments: 48
Kudos: 203
Collections: Marvel Bingo 2019





	what if he says no

**Author's Note:**

> Marvel Bingo Square N3 - Free Square.
> 
> here it is, folks! _ohmygod,_ writing these words was like pulling TEETH today ugh

**Clint**

Clint’s a spy. It’s literally his job to know things. Some things he knows with absolute certainty: One. Tony has far too many pairs of Iron Man underwear. Two. Bruce does naked yoga and Clint will never get that image out of his mind. Ever. Three. Steve is still in love with Bucky.

One thing he’s pretty sure he knows, but is still a little uncertain about: Clint might be in love with Bucky too. It’s probably greedy as shit - he’s already got one supersoldier, what does he need another one for?

But it’s not like that. Not really. He just wants them both to be happy. They’ve been through so much in their lives, and when you think about it - neither of them are even 30 yet, biologically. Is it so bad that he just wants to wrap them both in a blanket and give them all the things?

“You’re doing it again,” Steve says, cutting into his thoughts. When Clint focuses his gaze, he finds Steve staring at him thoughtfully. 

“Doing what again?”

“Thinking about Bucky.” Steve’s so matter of fact about this that denying it doesn’t even cross Clint’s mind.

“I’m not the only one,” Clint says, raising an eyebrow. He’s not completely sure, but it’s not a wild guess. Steve’s pretty much always thinking about Bucky in one form or another. Steve flushes. “So, what’s on your mind?”

“What’s on yours?” Steve counters.

“Stop deflecting, I asked you first,” Clint says, poking Steve in the ribcage. Steve narrows his eyes, making Clint snort. “C’mon, start talking.”

“I still love Bucky,” Steve says bluntly. “I don’t think I ever stopped.”

“Huh,” Clint says thoughtfully. “I think I love him too.”

“I don’t want you to think that you’re not enough - wait, what?”

“You heard me.”

“So... what now?” Steve’s got his thinking face on. It’s adorable. 

“Fight to the death, loser gets Bucky,” Clint says immediately.

Steve blinks. “Wouldn’t the loser be dead?”

“Nah,” Clint shakes his head, “The loser would be whoever had to live with the guilt of killing the other and then lying about it to Bucky.”

“I can see how that would be a bad thing to live with,” Steve says thoughtfully. “Obviously, we aren’t breaking up with each other.”

“Obviously,” Clint agrees.

“We could ask him to join us?” It’s not a bad idea. Would take a lot of work, poly relationships always do - not that Clint’s an expert.

“What if he takes it the wrong way? We could lose him,” Clint points out, because he has to play devil’s advocate.

Steve snorts. “You kiddin’? I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“Like he looks at you any different,” Clint shoots back. “Eyeing the both of us up like we’re slabs of meat.”

“Well,” Steve leers, “We are beefcakes.” He winks lecherously at Clint, holding his leer for approximately three seconds before they both burst out laughing.

“Did you really,” Clint wheezes, “just call us beefcakes?”

“Am I wrong?” Steve asks, gesturing between them wildly. “We’re probably a whole damn cow!”

Clint laughs so hard he falls off the couch. Seeing Steve’s face peer over the edge of the couch at him, bright red from laughing, makes him laugh so hard he cries, and whenever either of them starts to calm down, all it takes is a muttered ‘beefcake’ or ‘whole damn cow’ from one of them to set them both off all over again. 

Ten minutes later, Clint’s still snickering even as he climbs back onto the couch and his stomach hurts from how hard he was laughing. “I am never going to be able to eat steak again,” he mutters, and Steve snorts beside him. 

“Like we’re fancy enough to eat steak,” he says, bumping Clint’s shoulder. 

“Hey!” Clint pouts. “I’m fancy!”

Steve looks at him. “Clint. Baby. You are wearing a shirt with three days worth of coffee stains on it and you drink milk from the carton.”

“What else am I supposed to drink it out of?” Clint protests. He stops and tilts his head. “Okay, yeah. I see it now. Definitely not fancy. Like, not even a little.”

“You look damn fine in a suit, though,” Steve winks.

“Maybe when I’m not covered in bandaids,” Clint scoffs. “You, though. You look so good in those suits you wear, it’s a test of my self-control not to just miss whatever event it is we’re headed to and keep you here, all for myself.”

“Last time we did that, Margo yelled at us for two hours straight,” Steve points out, “And then she yelled for three more hours when she found out you’d turned your aids off.”

“She was stopping me from napping,” Clint grumbles.

“Nothing stops you from napping,” Steve says. 

Clint sighs. “Yeah,” he says, “You’re right. I am a napping pro.”

“How did we manage to get so off-topic?” Steve asks, sighing.

“There is no brain in our beefcake,” Clint says, voice strained as he tries to hold back his laughter. That fails the second he sees Steve’s face.

“Oh lord,” Steve says, passing a hand over his face, “I’m dating an idiot.”

“Hey, look on the bright side! Hopefully, soon you’ll be dating _ two _ idiots!” Clint points out.

“You really think he’ll say yes?” Steve asks quietly. 

“Steve, you two are the star crossed lovers of the century,” Clint says gently, pulling Steve into his arms. “And let’s face it, I’m not going anywhere. We’ve got a decent shot here.”

“But what if he says no?” Steve persists.

Clint sighs. “It’ll suck. It’ll suck real bad. And we’ll probably pine for a while. A long while. But, honestly? All we want is to make him happy, show him that he deserves to have good things. If he says no, or if he’s not ready, we’ll respect that. But I don’t think he will say no.”

“I don’t think I could handle it if he says no,” Steve says in a small voice. 

“I don’t think I could either,” Clint admits. “He already owns my heart, just like you do.”

“Bucky’s owned my heart since we were kids,” Steve says honestly. “I never thought I could love anyone else. You were a surprise, that way.”

“I am pretty sneaky,” Clint agrees.

Steve scoffs. “Sure, when you’ve had your allotted four mugs of coffee in the mornings. Otherwise? You’re about as subtle as a thunderstorm, baby.”

“I cannot be held responsible for my actions before coffee,” Clint says immediately.

“I know, I know,” Steve says fondly, “That’s what it says on your favourite mug. And on the last after-incident report I had to submit when you broke the elevator last week.”

“Y’know,” Clint says thoughtfully, “I’m still not sure how I did that.”

“Baby,” Steve says seriously, cupping Clint’s face in his hands, “Even JARVIS isn’t sure how you did that, and he is literally the building.”

Clint pouts until Steve kisses it away and then kisses him breathless. “So, it’s decided then?” He asks. “We’re asking Bucky to join us?”

“Yeah,” Steve says quietly. “It’s decided.”

“When?” 

Before Steve can answer, there’s a knock at their door. “Sergeant Barnes would like to know if you’re available,” JARVIS says.

“Well,” Clint says, “No time like the present, I suppose.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have been forgetting to do this and I am so sorry. 
> 
> find me on the [ tumbles](https://hawksonfire.tumblr.com/)
> 
> find me on the [ tweets](https://twitter.com/hawks_on_fire)


End file.
